Serenity and Her Secrets

Serenity is a character that pops up in Volume II of The Rideshare Chronicles (the next book that will be released in the Murder Mindset Series). Her first book will be released after that.

Serenity has been on quite a journey as she’s slowly started to reveal herself to me. I don’t know if that’s how it is for other authors, but my characters definitely reveal themselves to me over time. Some things come quickly. Some things take time. I’m getting to know her very well right now.

She first came to me when I was driving one night, at the same time as Scott. He was much clearer. I had a vague idea of her story that night, but she’s been getting louder and louder as time has gone by.

Typically, it’s out of nowhere. I’ll be thinking about something completely random and see, hear, smell, or feel something and it hits me. Other times, it has nothing to do with anything going on around me. In either instance, she shows me more of who she is every time she crosses my mind.

I see her. I smell her. I feel her pain. I see through her eyes. Some of it is a bit…unreal. But I know it is real, to her. And to others who have gone through some of the same things she has. I’m grateful that my traumas haven’t been the same as hers.

I read a book once that discusses our “shadow” sides. Meaning the parts of ourselves that we try to hide, even from ourselves, and how those shadows have a way of continuing to emerge until we’re ready to deal with them.

That book said that every single human emotion and characteristic is in all of us. I had to put the book aside for a while because I struggled with the notion that I am the same as cold-blooded murderers, child molesters, etc.

Eventually, I picked the book up again. I understand that on some primal level, there are things that could happen to us that might turn us into someone we don’t recognize. I started slowly. Accepting that if someone were hurting someone I loved, I could easily become a killer. It evolved from there.

Of course, I choose not to cross certain lines because of my own moral beliefs. Not everyone has that line. Some of us just live within the confines of society. Others really don’t care and live by their own rules, or the lack thereof. I’m sure things could have happened to me, or could happen to me, that would make me not care about those lines anymore.

With that being said, I realize that some of Serenity’s story might seem far fetched to some. But I understand her. I get why she became the woman you’re going to meet. And I can’t even say that I blame her for it. She might be a heroine, or she might be something far more sinister. I’ll let you decide.

And if I’m doing her justice, you’ll never look at things so simply again.